Chico & Rita

source: Chico & Rita

Here is a great animated film for adults, particularly for those who enjoy or are intrigued by Afro-Cuban music that after being extremely popular in the 1940s and 1950s faded once the Cuban revolution established a Marxism regime. Inspired by stories of exile and the music left behind, this is an epic tale of star-crossed lovers, a singer and a pianist/songwriter, whose tempestuous relationship takes from Havana to NYC, from Europe to Vegas, from the 1950s to the 2000s, the film is meticulous in its recreation of streets, bars, apartments, hotels, cars, music halls, clubs, populated by its colorful characters. These lovers, friends, managers, and musicians are all too human flirting, smoking, dreaming, making love, getting drunk, having jealous fights, manipulating, betraying, trying for stardom, realizing their emptiness, or living in somber poverty. There is racism, sex, prostitution, murder, love, heartbreak, regret, and hope, along with piano jazz, big band numbers, small jazz groups, and Hollywood numbers. All these scenes are presented in fluid, graphic, colorful detail, brilliantly animated, with an eye and hear for period, place, and character. A daytime scene in old Havana is full of color, the streets have people, buses, and advertisement everywhere. There is a blackout and neighbor voices are heard. A nightclub scene at midnight is deprived of colors other than blue hues. Rita's eyes blue eyes in the dark turn brown. This attention to detail make this animated feature true to life making the characters and their stories believable and real, unlike the silly cartoonish CGI of the Toy Story series and the contemporary deluge of animated crap polluting the screens. Then there is the soundtrack: Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, Woody Herman, among others along with the Afro Cuban piano of Bebo Valdes, etc. It should delight jazz and Afro Cuban music lovers and may convert those who are not familiar with this sensual music. This is a first rate animated film for adults, unique even when compared to other realistic, adult-oriented animated films. It doesn't have the animal cuteness of "My Dog Tulip" and while being more akin to Jacques Tati's "The Illusionist," in presenting the stark reality of earning a living as a performing artist, it doesn't take a magical childlike view approach to the story. Chico and Rita is an erotic, musical, historical, emotional tale, unflinchingly real. Take their sentimental journey and you will be richly rewarded.

"Chico & Rita" was a nice film. In many ways, it's an ordinary love story, but it's beautifully told: Even when the character's designs are pretty stylish (Even if not everyone like the aesthetic of those designs, personally I think that were done well) The sceneries and the voice acting were quite good too, but the best element from the movie is the excellent music that appears on the film, giving it a whimsical, almost dream-like atmosphere. Even the cheesiest part of the story ended being effective due the combination of that beautiful music with the stylish animation. On the bad side, the plot is somewhat slow and even boring at some parts of the story that could have been done better (Or just being obviated, since those parts didn't add major interest to the main storyline) Too be honest, I was expecting a bit more from this movie, but even when "Chico & Rita" isn't the great masterpiece that it could have been, it is certainly a highly enjoyable animated movie for adults, that handles very well all the subtle elements from every good love-story.

This is definitely a movie worth watching. It has one of the more beautiful animations I've seen in an animated movie. Amazingly the animated Cuba is almost an exact replica of the real Cuba in the 1940's, which is some real dedication! The music is also incredibly soothing to listen to. This is probably one of the best soundtracks I've heard to an animated movie. Cuban jazz, a little blues and some really relaxing slow jazz. It's a joy to listen to. There's one thing about this movie that pulls it down for me, and that is, unfortunately, the characters. Chico is straight down unlikeable to me, I really do not understand why Rita likes him. Maybe because of their shared love for music, but other than that he doesn't exactly have too many charming sides of him. He flirts with her, she rejects him, he follows her, she rejects him, she sees him play piano at a fancy place, she likes him. Then they get together, she finds out he has another woman, she splits (as well as the other woman), then (because of music?) they get back together like nothing's happened, but then he gets jealous of her wanting to make it big, she wants him, but for some reason, the other woman has found him again and has claimed him again (without knowing why she wants him) and this goes on and on. And Chico says at some point to Rita: "I know I've been a jerk, but I'm here now and I love you!". No apology, no explanation, no effort to make it better, he just expects her to be happy he's there. In short Chico is kind of a douche, and Rita is very easily turned over. There are some holes here and there. We don't know why Chico's friend Hermano betrays him (except he might have been jealous, but we don't really know). Why did Rita stay in Vegas? To wait for Chico apparently (Rita doesn't really DO anything in the movie, things happen to her mostly). In the end, I did enjoy this movie, despite its flaws with character and story. There are some tiny moments I wish they'd animate in here and there. Things progress really fast in this movie, but I can understand that since it's only one and a half hour long and it's animated with lots of details. The ending is not what I would expect, it's a little lazy. But watch it, it's still worth it

This is a movie done not by any big animation studios but it's a British and Spanish animated co-production instead. This means that the movie already has an unique style of its own, that works out as something fresh and quite charming. What I foremost liked about this movie that it got buildup and approached like an actual movie. The camera handling, the way the animated characters 'act', really, this movie might just as well had been a life action movie and things would had been exactly the same. Except for its look of course. The movie has a real pleasant and bright look over it. Its for most part set on Cuba and you really feel its special atmosphere, while watching this movie. Besides, the animation might not look photo-realistic, the backgrounds are still often really great looking and so is the way all of the characters move and show expressions. It really is a truly great movie from an animation perspective. But also story-wise this is a great, sweet little movie. It's a romantic one, that involves a love story between 2 musicians, the one a singer the other a piano player. You can tell they fit well together and also should be together but due to many different circumstances they often loose track of each other and end up living their own lives and have their own musical careers, while still running into each other, every now and then. It all is being supported by some fine jazz music and if you are a jazz lover, this movie is already an absolute must-see for you! And no, I myself am not even a jazz lover but I could still really appreciate the music in this movie and what it did for its story and overall atmosphere. It's also most definitely a movie for adults only. And not just because the movie features some nudity and a pretty graphic sex scene in it but also simply because of its story and the way its getting told. Like I said, it's just being like a life action movie with its approach, so don't simply let the fact that its animated scare you off. This just simply is a great movie, that deserves to be seen by more. This in short is a surprisingly good animated movie, with a sweet little story in at and a great overall style and atmosphere to it! 8/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

The story of "Chico and Rita" is told with a big wink towards the "Buena Vista social club" and I must admit that the end is really moving. However two people who spend 60 years to come to the conclusion that they can't live without each other stretches the probability of the story a bit too much. The animation however is very well done. Originally mainly used in films for kids, in the first decade of the new century animation was more and more used is films for grown ups. In this respect "Chico and Rita" was preceded by films like "Les triplettes de Belleville" (2003, Sylvian Chomet), "Persepolis" (2007, Marjane Satrapi) and "Waltz with Bashir" (2008, Ari Folman). From the character of Gollum in "The lord of the rings" (2001 - 2003, Peter Jackson) I knew that at the basis of computer generated images (CGI) there is sometimes real human acting. In the case of Gollum a real actor played this character dressed in a suit full of sensors. Based on the measurements thus generated the computer made the images we see in the film. What I never knew was that "Chico and Rita" was made according to more or less the same procedure. Actors played the part of Chico and Rita, after which artists used these images to make the drawings. Purpose of this procedure was to make facial expressions as true to nature as possible.

Chico and Rita is a nice little film with some great music, animation that really brings out all of the vivid colors, and atmosphere that takes you into it's setting. It all blends it in so seamlessly. It's main problem? A weak screenplay that is filled with predictable plot points and turns. It never rises to become anything special, despite some great stand-alone scenes. Still, recommended for the great blend of music and what style it has! The voice-over performances are quite effective, and it isn't hard to see the passion put into it. It's also quite refreshing to see an animated film in Spanish, and definitely for one to get an Oscar nomination. But it doesn't hold a candle to Rango, which will deservedly win the Oscar.

As a big animation fan, I loved Chico and Rita, one of the most beautiful and most unique films I have seen recently. I also didn't care much for Estrella Morente, but that wasn't enough to be a massive problem. The film has one of the most unique visual styles I've seen not just in recent memory but perhaps even ever, and it looks gorgeous. Everything from the colours, sceneries and colours are rich in detail and beautiful on the eyes. Chico and Rita is a very musically rich film as well, with Cuban and Jazz music providing so much character to the atmosphere. The two titular characters are likable and engaging, the screenplay is good if nothing completely mind-blowing and the story is very touching. In conclusion, a wonderful film, animated or not. 9/10 Bethany Cox

As far as animation goes I can take or leave the entries that have appeared over the last few years but once I read that the soundtrack of Chico and Rita featured the likes of Woody Herman, Dizzy Gillespie, Theolonius Monk and Charly Parker I decided to check it out. It didn't disappoint; in addition to an outstanding soundtrack the animation itself was of an earlier age which complemented the time-frame (late forties, early fifties). There was even a 'well-made' screenplay thrown in for good measure, one that featured a beginning, a middle and an end. Okay, it was hackneyed to say the least - muso meets thrush, muso gets thrush, muso loses thrush - but still managed to hold the attention.

The second foreign nominee for the Academy Awards' Best Animated Feature in 2011, there has actually been buzz about this one since last year's Oscars (it debuted at Telluride in 2010 and also played at Toronto, but is not seeing a commercial release in the U.S. until February of 2012; it already saw a release in most European countries in late 2010 or 2011). That buzz is, thankfully, quite deserved, because this one is just wonderful. A simple story, sure, but a touching one about a young man and woman in Havana who begin a romance in 1948. They are musicians and get together through their art, but unfortunately petty jealousies keep getting in the way of their love. After initial success, Rita is swept off to New York City to become famous without Chico. He follows a few years later and finds his own fame, but the two seem destined to remain separate. The animation, like the story, is quite simple but really beautiful. It kind of reminds me of Waltz with Bashir, although it's not rotoscoped - at least not as extensively as Waltz with Bashir was. Rita, I must say, is the sexiest animated character since Jessica Rabbit - and she's not nearly so shy. It's kind of funny, but on account of this film, the Best Animated Feature category has far more nudity in it than all nine of the Best Picture nominees. Of course, as the characters are Cuban musicians, there's a ton of wonderful music throughout. I found the film deeply touching, and it brought me to tears at the end. This is far and away the best film among the four I've seen in its Oscar category this year (and I somehow doubt that Puss in Boots will eventually blow it out of the water!). Highly recommended.